Shahd Alhamdan

Saudi Gazette

Arguments between the older and younger generations of Saudis never end, but when it comes to body piercings, generations can have dramatically different views.



A body piercing is a puncture made in the body by a needle and after that, a piece of jewelry is inserted into the opening. The most popular pierced body parts are the ears, the nostrils, the lips and the belly button.



It is not uncommon for young Saudi women to have piercings in their bellies, noses, ears, lips and tongues because they consider it to be fashionable. However, Saudi girls differ on the piercing trend. Some do not think this trend makes the girl look any better and in fact say that it makes her ugly.



Piercing is a problem for parents, too. While some categorically refuse to allow their girls to pierce their faces because it is an unfamiliar sight, others give in to the pressure, which intensifies when the girls want to imitate their friends.



While some women in their 40s and 50s have body piercings, particularly in their bellies and noses, many of them refuse to let their daughters get pierced.



Saudi teenager Tala Atef said: “I do not have any piercings, yet body piercing is pretty because it makes the skin and the body look different. It is a way of showing your personality.”



Another Saudi in her 20s, Reham Adel, said: “I think belly and ear piercing are the only nice kinds of piercing. However, after a piercing you need to clean the ear and the belly and take care of them regularly. I don’t like other types of body piercing.”



Adel said she believes that Saudi society accepts belly and ear piercings.



Mohammed, a Saudi man in his late 20s, said he likes women with piercings and that he doesn’t have any problem with accepting the idea.



However for Samera Khaled Alkereneez, a mother in her 50s, body piercing is disgusting. “By practicing it, we are imitating Jews and Christians. Why do we follow the West only in negative habits? Why don’t we imitate them in having a system? Why don’t Westerners imitate us?”



One Saudi Twitter said in a tweet that he believed women with body piercings look similar to domesticated animals and that he doesn’t accept the idea at all.



While people get pierced for many different reasons today, the practice of body piercing has its origins in early human history and it existed over ages for specific reasons.



Nose piercing, for example, dates back to ancient times and was first recorded in the Middle East around 4,000 years ago.



Tongue piercings were once performed for religious reasons, as it was believed that drawing blood appeased the deities.



In ancient times people also believed that piercings altered a person’s consciousness, allowing priests to communicate with supernatural forces.